


I'm Fine

by AmmyMcKay



Series: Awestruck Tales [4]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Awestruck, Cas is just there, Dean Acts Like a Dog, Gen, Random & Short, Talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 01:04:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8307868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmmyMcKay/pseuds/AmmyMcKay
Summary: Dean is still affected by the mind-meld potion as he researches a case with Kevin and Castiel. A short scene of an interaction between Dean and Kevin.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in [Awestruck Ch 12, "Hebb's Rule"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7295455/chapters/18692962) while Sam is meeting with Lively. Probably won't make much sense unless you follow the main fic. Not really any spoilers for that story though.

***

Dean was wondering when he had grown so attentive to everything. He had noticed that ever since he had stopped actively and constantly trying to inhibit his instinctive behaviors, he had grown more in tune to his new senses.

Before his condition, he was already quite adept at reading people, the same way that his brother was. It was a necessity. For over a decade, they have interviewed victim's families and friends. And they couldn't out and out ask  _ Did you see the ghost that's been haunting the house you just bought?  _ They had to beat around the bush, read the expressions of people, try to understand when they couldn't directly reveal what they knew. They were usually dealing with things that didn't exist. Things that most people believed shouldn't exist. But now, he saw the minute changes in expression.

He turned his attention to Castiel, who was sipping on a cup of coffee. He had put in sugar, but no milk or cream because it had gone bad while they were in Caribou. The former-angel was reading and translating some of Kevin's notes. The prophet could have translated it himself, but everyone agreed that letting Castiel do it would save time so that Kevin could pull more out of the tablet.

Speaking of Kevin, Dean started watching him. The prophet was as focused as he always was, but there was a different quality to it. It was almost as if he was trying his best to appear busy and productive to compensate for something else. There was a quiet desperation in it. The prophet lifted his eyes and looked back at Dean, who averted his gaze.

"Dean," Kevin asked. "What it like?"

Dean canted his head in a incredibly canine gesture: an upright, perky tilt of his head. An unspoken  _ what's what like?  _ But the meaning was easy to read.

Kevin cleared his throat. "You know, the  _ thing  _ that's wrong with you."

Castiel stopped focusing on the translation to listen in. It was something he had wanted to know for a long time--what was wrong with Dean Winchester. He hadn't had the opportunity to ask him and was slightly apprehensive to ask him, afraid of being banished from the Bunker again.

Dean digested the question and wondered how he should answer it. Sam and Kevin had asked him that before. What was it like. Dean joked the first few times they asked, thinking that it was something temporary. And then, when it stopped being funny and his own behavior started to worry his brother, he just said he was fine.

But lately, he wondered if it were something that would be permanent. It had been months since it first happened. He had gotten used to it. Right now, he felt like himself. Save for the creepy staring. Maybe it was getting out of hand. He scratched at his ear.

It took him a few seconds since Kevin had asked for him to formulate what to say. And he was almost tempted to share what it really was like, but they were in the middle of things that were bigger than him. The fate of the world mattered more than the fate of one hunter. And so, like always, he said, "I'm fine."

Kevin's eyes lingered on him for a second, doubting the veracity in his words.

"How about you guys?" Dean asked. "You both look like you're running on fumes."

"We have to get this done," Kevin said without directly answering the question. All he did was give the reason that they should continue. And that in turn explained to Kevin what  _ I'm fine _ really meant.


End file.
